Hawaiian launches Brisbane flights

Hawaiian Airlines commenced direct flights between Honolulu and Brisbane today, becoming the only US airline flying to the Queensland capital.

Hawaiian will fly a Boeing 767 to Brisbane

The airline’s inaugural flight to Brisbane departed early this morning, and is due to touch down in Brisbane at 1600 local time, with a flight time of just over nine hours. The return service will depart at 1935 after a launch ceremony including hula dancing and a traditional Hawaiian blessing of the aircraft.

Following today’s launch, Hawaiian will operate the route three times a week using a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft.

“I am delighted to be in Brisbane to welcome our own inaugural flight from Hawaii to the Queensland capital, and to celebrate the commencement of our new scheduled services from Brisbane to Honolulu,” said Mark Dunkerley, president & CEO of Hawaiian Airlines. “Not only do we now offer the only non-stop flights between Brisbane and Hawaii, we offer authentic Hawaiian service, enabling our customers to start their Hawaii holiday the moment they set foot aboard our aircraft.”

Last year Hawaiian increased its Sydney services to daily, and Dunkerley said continued strong growth in demand for travel from Australia to Hawaii convinced Hawaiian to introduce more flights to the country.

“Last year 189,000 Australians visited Hawaii – more than double the number who visited before we started flying to Australia in 2004,” Dunkerley said. “We selected Brisbane as our second Australia gateway not only because of the high number of Queenslanders visiting Hawaii, but also because Brisbane Airport is perfectly positioned as a gateway for passengers from throughout Australia,” he said.

Hawaiian’s flights will depart Brisbane at 1835 every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, crossing the international dateline and arriving in Honolulu at 0805 the same day. From Honolulu, passengers will be able to connect to 11 US mainland cities, including Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York and Seattle. All flights will be operated using a 264-seat, two-class B767 accommodating 18 passengers in business class and 246 in economy.